Weigh conveyer



Patented Oct. 19, 1926.

UNTE STATES Par-ENT omen.

HUGH I. ROBBINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WEIGH CONVEYER.

Application filed November 28, 119,21. Seriallo, 518,153.

whereby Weighing several constituents, Owj

load or batch, making memoranda-ntilde several Weightsi and the`calculations. heretofore customary are eliminated. Y A speciiic objectof theinventionv is to produce a conveyerA equipped With multiple speeddriving mechanism andmounted on scale rigging whereby a corn1 n )ditymay be deposited on the conveyer slowly While the loiv speed drivingmechanismis in operation, the conveyer stops when'fully'v loaded,. orwhen the desiredquantity to be weighed is resting thereon, the netkweight taken :directly, and the load on` the. conveyer" afterwardsrapidly disposed of by engaging the high speed driving gear. f l i Otherobjects will become apparent as the description is readfin connectionWith the accompanying drawingshowing a selected enibodiment of theinvention in Which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation llustratingja speciticembodiment of the invention;v

Fig.l 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-.2 of Fig. 1; and

F ig. 3 is a` planview illustrating a selected form of drivingmechanism. l

Referring to the drawing and thereference characters thereon7 10indicates a rectangular frame made of channel iron side pieces 11,'endpieces 12 and intermediate cross pieces 13. Suitably secured toy theiframe and extending upwardly therefrom are the columns 14 which carrythe tramen Work of a conveyer. This framework over hangs the frame 10 ateach end and includes the auxiliary'uprights l5 connected to the columns141' by the longitudinal members; 16, 17 and 18. Suitable cross braceslQand 210 giveithe conveyer frame lateral4 stability. A shaft- 21 suitablyiournaled in fixed bearings at one end of the conveyer frame and a shaft22 journaled in adjustable bearings 23 at the opposite end of the frameare equipped With sprockets 24 over which run the chains 25 of theconveyer belt 26. This belt may be oi' any suitable construction but ispreferably provided With the cross-members 27 which act as pushers toconstrain the load to, travel With the conveyer. As shown in Fig. 2, theupper run of the belt passes between. a pair of guide Walls 28 which maybe used to maintainva considere able quantity of; loose materialen thebelt. Tlhesegiiidej Wallsfmay be carried by the con- 'v'.e'y'er.l frameinfany suitable manner.A

Inord'er to drvef the belt at aplurality of Spass; I.` provide ai meer'maintains@ be,- tive'en it and one ofthe' shafts. of the conveyerlsuitable, change-speed gearing. As illustrated, an electric motor 29vdrives the lpulley v30 through a belt 31; and the pulley 30 is fixed toaff'shaft 32 having thereon a loosely 'mounted pinion 33 and va looselymounted gear 3-1 adapted to be engaged withV the shaft by means of aclutchl Which isoperatedby the lever 36 under the control ofavhandle 37.. The pinion 33 meshes With aA gear 38 on a countershaft 39, Whichalsorarries a pinion l0 adapted to mesh with the gear 34,4and a pinion41 Vmeshing with al gear l2 on a second countershaft L13 havinga pinionla meshing With the gear i3 on ,Shaft 21. Byclutching thepinion 33 tothe shaft 32the conveyer may be driven atl a very sloW speed, and byclutching in gear' it may be'dl'iven ata relatively high speed. Thisarrangementmalres it*l possible Yto drive the cofnveyerl slowly While itis receiving a load or batch of material, then stop the conveyer andWeigh'the load, and then drive the conveyer at high speed to quicklydispose of the weighed material.

In order to directly ascertain the net Weight of any load onytheconveyer.7 I mount theframe 10 with all` the superposed' conveyermechanism on a suitable scale rigging or mechanism7 generally indicatedbythe reference characterld The scale rigging here shown is merelyselected on account of its suitability for certain Work, and "I mayreplace it with any other ltype or kind that may be found betteradapted" to particular conditions. i' l Oylnfiou'slythe gear ratios maybe designed ,to suit' Pariular @Oldls and @1.0m speeds may be suppliedVYit found desirable. The low speed should be suited to the rate atwhich the commodity reaches the conveyer so that the load may beproperly distributed, and all ofa particular quantity may be put on theconveyer for Weighing, in the ordinary course of events. However, whenrequired, large quantities can be handled in batches in proportion tothecapacity oitV the conveyer,

As illustrated, the frame 10 is suspended by the eye-bolts 47 havingtheir upper ends connected to the ears 48 on shafts 49 which aresuspended by means of links 50 and eye-bolts 5l from the beams 52 of asuitable Ymain frame or support here shown as ycomprising the columns 53secured together by angle 'irons 54 and the beams 52. The shafts 49 areequipped with arms 55 having their free ends surrounded by a loop 56pivoted to one end 57 of a lever 58 having a. fulcrum at 59 andconnected at its opposite end by a link 60 to the short arm 61 yof thelever 62, fulcrumed at 63. The long karm of the lever '62 is connectedby a shackle 64 and a link with a scale beam 66 ulcrumed at 67 andequipped with'a poise 68, a counterweight 69, and a counterpoise 69. Asillustrated, the scale beam is arranged within a cage 70 suspended fromone of the angle irons 54, but it may be located in any other suitableposition as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

In Fig. 2 I have shown platforms 71on each side of the conveyer atconvenient height for an operator or workman, but it will be understoodthat the control of the mechanism described may be operated from Vanysuitable position. Preferably the operator will be at sufficientelevation to permit him to observe practically the entire operation ofhandling the particular commodity.

The embodiment of the invention above described -is particularly adaptedto use at receiving stations for sugar beets. By custom,beets aredelivered to these stations in carts, wagons or trucks, and dumped orfed into a hopper or other receptaclefrom which they are taken to acleaner and separated V'from all extraneous matter, and the cleanedbeets are delivered to a storage bin or car, either directly or throughthe intermediary vor a conveyer 0r chute.

Usually the vehicle ,and gross load are weighed together, then thevehicle and the extraneous matter removed from the beets are weighedandy a calculation made to determine the net weight of the beets. Thisis a source of numerous errors and great annoyance to all concerned. p

By interposing the above described mechanism between the cleaner and thecar or storage bin, the net weight of the clean beets can beobtained-by. a procedure so simple and direct asto make errorspractically impossible. For example: assuming the apparatus to be clearand in operating condition, a wagon load of beets 1s dumped in thehopper of a conveyer leading to the cleaner where they are separatedfrom all extraneous matter and delivered in a more or less vcontinuousstream to a chute or conveyer leading tothe weigh conveyer, the belt ofwhich is started at slow speed as soon as the beets begin to aproach itand the load distributed along its length; when the last of the loadreaches the weigh conveyer, the

belt is stopped, the scale beambalanced and the weight noted; afterwhich the belt is again started and if desirable, driven at high speedto quickly dispose of the load.

I am awa-re that changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the invention, vas set forth in the selected embodimentherein,without departing from they scope or sacrificing any of itsmaterial advantages, and I therefore reserve the right to makeall` suchchanges as fairly fall within thescope of thev following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of an endless conveyer, means for driving theconveyerat one speed to distribute a load over its entire length, a

lscale vrigging upon which the conveyer is mounted whereby-thenet-weight of a load on the conveyer may be directly determined, andmeans for driving the conveyer at a ihigherrat/'e of speed'to dischargevthe load.

2. The combination of a conveyer, means `for determining the net weightof a load on said conveyer, a motor, and selective gear transmissionbetween the motor and the belt whereby the conveyer may be driven at onespeedV tol distribute a load over its entire length and at a higher rateof speed to discharge the loa-d.

3. The combination of a main frame, scale r rigging carried bythe mainframe, a con'- veyer supported on the soalerigging, a

motor, change-speed transmission between the motor and the conveyerwhereby the con-

